


smokescreens

by zoosmell



Series: Scraps/Unfinished [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Implied/Referenced Sex, M/M, Marijuana, Past Jake English/Dirk Strider, Smoking, Vape Pens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:41:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27704308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zoosmell/pseuds/zoosmell
Summary: (UNFINISHED) something i did for a fic jam and never got to posting. i never really finished it but it's long enough for me to justify posting here, so here you guys go!
Relationships: John Egbert/Dirk Strider
Series: Scraps/Unfinished [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2026201
Kudos: 8





	smokescreens

"How's it feel?"

You pull the vape pen from your mouth slowly, turning your head and blowing a haze of smoke to the side, away from John.

"Huh?" You ask, with a cough. "The weed, or?"

"Yeah, that." He chuckles a little. "I've always wanted to, but... never had the courage or ability, I guess."

You turn to him and scratch your neck.

Your name is Dirk Strider, and your best friend, John Egbert, came to your doorstep a couple of hours ago to hang with you. 

Now, you think you're going to be his gateway into smoking pot.

"Um. Do you want to try?" You pass him the pen, and he grabs it, not quite sure how to navigate using it. It's kind of cute, to be honest - the way he fumbles with... well, everything, to be honest. But, that's aside from your focus right now. 

"You just press this button five times, and put it up to your mouth, I guess. And then you breathe in, and..." John blows a cloud of smoke to the side and lays backward into your couch, planting a silhouette of his spine into the sofa. 

"That was nice," he says, taking another hit before passing the device back to you. "I really needed that."

"Oh." You're already feeling the high, so you just set the pen on the nightstand. "You're welcome."

God, this is awkward.

"Hey, dude, wanna watch a movie?" You ask him, and his head perks up. "Then you can tell me all about your day, and shit."

"Of course," he answers. "I'm always down for a good movie." And he laughs, but you can hear the pain in his voice.

Yeah, this guy's gonna need a lot of weed tonight.

"Hm. Well, I've got..." Flashstepping to your shelves, you find your movie collection. "Uh... Pulp Fiction, Heathers, Mean Girls, Clueless..."

"You have a lot of movies involving girls, cliques, and betrayal." He laughs at you, but you can't even be angry at him - because you're glad he's showing any semblance of happiness.

Ever since the game, the two of you have pretty much only had each other. Dave has Karkat, Roxy has Callie, and Jake has... well, nobody, but you can't help that he's in a marriage he doesn't want to be in.

If there's one thing you know about Jake English, it's that he's the biggest doormat you know.

But enough about him. You grab one of the movies John heckled, making some comment about how it's your house, your pot, and your movies.

"Alright, alright. Your movies kinda suck though." He judges, looking at you and pulling one leg over the other. Unhealthy.

Oh, really? "Says Nicholas Cage Fanboy #1."

"Fair point." He reaches across the cough to grab the vape pen while you put the movie in, and you're just glad you've finally found a way to loosen him up. The two of you have been best friends ever since Dave got married, which was... well, god, at least 5 years ago now. 6? You're not even sure. The photos are up somewhere down the hall, considering you and Dave used to live together. Until he left.

Yeah, well, whatever. You're over it. Pursuing love or whatever.

Still stings a little though.

The two of you are now sitting on the couch, watching 2004 Lindsey Lohan navigate a high school full of assholes. You guess that's just... high school, though - you never went, obviously, but you've consumed enough media centring the concept that you're pretty sure teenagers, in general, are just douches. You sure were.

"This movie isn't as bad as I remember," he pipes up. "Like, I guess I just watched it when I was a teen boy. And, like, when you're 12 and whatnot, anything that isn't down your alley just seems bad. But this is actually kinda funny!"

You nod. "Well, I wouldn't be forcing you to watch somethin' if it wasn't funny, dude."

"You make a good point." He twiddles with his thumbs a little, and you look over to him, your shades still on. Sure, it's dim outside - mainly due to the storming, thanks John - but it's kind of just... an unspoken thing between you two. You only really take them off when the situation calls for it - you're not sure watching Mean Girls is one of them.

"I'll admit," John says, setting the half-emptied pen on the side of the couch, "Tina Fey is pretty hot in this."

Right. Insufferably 'straight'. 

"Uh-huh," you tell him. 

"I know you're gay and stuff, but she's just attractive. I mean, I've seen guys that are attractive too, I guess. Just... I'm not, gay or anything. I think."

You grab the pen he sat down, taking another drawl from it. 

"The best thing I wished someone told me when I was a teenager is that labels fucking suck. Just love whoever the hell you want, you know?"

"I guess you're right. Man, I don't even know what I am, I guess."

"I don't expect you to. People question themselves at all stages of life, man," you tell him, placing a hand onto his shoulder. But when he looks at you with his crisply blue eyes, you pull that hand away and wipe it off. 

Things are gonna be hard.

Throughout the rest of the movie, he's given commentary, the two of you progressively getting more and more stoned. Soon, the pen cartridge was empty - you used a lot of it yesterday anyway - so it's put into a drawer. The film eventually ends, and you're left awkwardly looking at each other before John walks to the shelf and grabs your laptop. What the hell is he doing?

"Whatcha doing?" you ask, leaning over when he sits down.

"I'm curious." He asks, looking at your screen. "Do you watch gay porn?"

"Excuse me?" Oh, God.

"What is it like?" 

He doesn't even wait for you to answer, so you sit back on the sofa, letting him go to fucking PornHub's archives and thumb through the videos, only looking at the thumbnails to decide what was worth watching. God, this was going to be fucking excruciating, wasn't it?

"Oh, this one looks interesting," he clicks on a video involving two guys jacking off with each other, skipping almost all the exhibitional parts. He lets the laptop rest on the coffee table in front of you two, crossing his legs, and you're looking to the side of the room silently. This is awkward as hell, and no amount of pot could prepare you for this.

"Have you ever done that?"

What?

"Done what," you ask, turning back over to him.

"What they're doing."

Great.

"Uh... not really," you say honestly. "Jake and I weren't very sexual, and... well, what other guys are there to have that kinda shit with?" You have a point. 

"How does it feel?"

Oh.

"Have you... never had sex?" If John fucking Egbert is a virgin, it'll probably be one of the funniest things you've ever heard of.

"I mean... Not like that."

"Not gay?"

"I guess. I mean, like, obviously, right. But... it seems so... emotional."

You laugh at him. "Dude, all porn is so unrealistic, man. It's blown way out of proportion."

"Yeah, you're probably right." He looks down distantly. "So... I don't know what to say."

You grab the laptop and make the masterful decision to turn off the porn, closing the window and putting the thing back on the shelf. 

It's probably time to get John to sleep.

You've got two beds in your room, but he's chosen to sit at the foot of your bed while you're tapping on your phone. He's on his as well, and the silence is so, so excruciating.

And so you break it. If you never make a move, nobody will.

Worth tomorrow's pain.

"So. About that porn stuff." You say, stammering a little. "I could... uh."

"Would you want to try something like that?"

John blinks. "Like, hypothetically, or..."

"No. This is an offer, dude. Take it or leave it." God, this is humiliating. But, you've always been the one to take initiative. So... that's what you'll do.

You lean over to him and place a hand on his thigh, noticing that he's hovering in the air just a bit. You gently push him down, and he looks into your eyes, so you take off your glasses.

Nevermind, now you're uncomfortable.

"Forget it. It's fine. I regret mentioning it already-"

"No," John says. "I'm curious. I- I want to. Please?"

**Author's Note:**

> [Tumblr](https://brother--lover.tumblr.com/) | [18+ Twitter](https://twitter.com/zoosmells)


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